


you gave me magical, i gave you wonderful

by reformedcharacter



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, also a proposal, its so soft youll die come back to life and then die again, just fluff, thats it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 22:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15180308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reformedcharacter/pseuds/reformedcharacter
Summary: aaron and robert don't do grand, romantic gestures. except, when they really really do.or, aaron has a surprise for robert.(proposal 'spoilers' happened and i got emotional, so this is the result; a totally self indulgent fluff fest.)





	you gave me magical, i gave you wonderful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hypersonicmissiles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypersonicmissiles/gifts).



> title from biffy clyro's 'biblical'
> 
> for sarah, the scottish light of my life who i accidentally gifted this to but still she's my angel and deserves it

Robert slams the car door loudly behind him, the sound echoing around him in the quiet. The gravel crunches underneath his feet, his leather shoes scuffing slightly from the small pebbles kicking against them as he steps towards the front door. It’s dark out already, the street lamps bathing the village in a pool of yellowish light as Robert drove through the winding lanes, attempting to resist breaking out in a yawn every few minutes.

He comes to stand by the door, the ornate oak and emerald green detailing sending a deep thrum of _lovefamilyhappy_ through him; returning home from a conference to the quaint village he tried so hard to escape, home to his _husband_ , will never feel normal to him, despite how disgusting and domestic him and Aaron had come to be over the years (Liv constantly murmuring 'gross' under her breath as they gate a tad too cosy during breakfast, again.)

The doors open, to Robert's surprise. Despite the familiarity of the village, and everyone who resides within it, neither man feels comfortable enough leaving the door open for anyone to just make their way inside, which, with Aaron's family, would be a daily occurrence.

He pushes it open, the heavy wood creaking under his fingertips and, to his shock, his eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness in the front room. It’s only 10:30pm, Aaron normally wouldn’t be asleep by now, Robert thinks. His toe accidentally collides with the door frame as he makes his way through it, sending a sharp pain through his foot and a hiss through gritted teeth.

“Aaron?” He whispers, cautious of Liv and Sebastian asleep upstairs. Before his tired mind reminds him that Sebastian is with Diane for the night and Liv is stopping at Gabby’s for the weekend, so he shouts louder: “Aaron? Are you in here?”

He tosses the keys he’s clutching to the side aimlessly, a metallic _clink_ as it, hopefully, reaches the designated bowl Victoria had bought for the house. His arm stretches out to his left, fingers fumbling for the light switch, when a flicker in the corner of his eyes grabs his attention. He notices it through the kitchen window, bright white lights flickering from up high. Only then does a faint twinkle of beginning notes reach his ears. He stands, still, his arm still outstretched as the melody continues to trickle through from the outside.   

"Aaron?" He calls one more time. A frown falls over his face, eyebrows creased and lips downturned as he takes small steps towards the back door. His leather jacket is still heavy on his shoulders, crisp white shirt rubbing at his elbows and his trousers uncomfortably digging into his waist after a day sat in child sized plastic chairs. 

Only as he reaches to push open the door does the melody finally connect in his head. ' _Hunger',_ Aaron's new favourite song after Robert had introduced him to Florence and the Machine just two weeks prior. The transcendent vocals making a permanent home for themselves as Aaron sang along; making his morning coffee, in the shower, on his way to the scrapyard, anywhere no one other than his family could see him butchering the notes. 

He pushes harshly, the hinges stiff and fragile, swinging the door open to face the garden. His eyes quickly dart around before landing on him. Aaron. 

Aaron stands a small distance in front of him, a smile threatens to break out over his face, a slight quirk of his lips as his cheeks flush pink because of the late July breeze. He's ringing his hands together, fingers trailing over one another, and the shuffling of his feet threatens to betray his otherwise composed posture. The light continues to blind him slightly, only now he can identify the source of the offending light. Fairy lights. Trailed haphazardly over the hedges that line the wooden fence. They're a multitude of colours, a shocking display of pale pinks evolving to a baby blue before returning to the warming daffodil yellow.

Robert's eyes fall back to Aaron, whose pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and is biting against it harshly.

"What's going on?" Robert says, his voice cracking, as he slowly steps forward, coming to a stop in front of Aaron. 

"Nothing much." Aaron whispers teasingly, his hands reach up to Robert's biceps and hold on firmly to the leather, his fingers toy with the collar of his jacket gently. His fingertips brush against Robert's neck lightly, sending chills down Robert's spine as his own hands reach around to grab at Aaron's hoodie clad waist. Robert narrows his eyebrows, face suspicious, but allows Aaron to lean in all the same. His lips softly pressing against his own. Aaron's beard is shorter than normal, the summer heat forcing him to cut it shorter despite Robert's protests, but it still rubs against Robert's cheeks with a sharp bristle. They stand for a few long moments, swaying on the spot slowly as Aaron's hand travels upwards and lays to rest on Robert's neck, his grip firm as he presses even closer. 

They are both short of breath as they pull apart, their chests heaving and pants falling from their throats, but the smile on Aaron's face finally breaks out on his face. His lips stretch into a wide grin, the small dimple on his left cheek appearing as his tongue creeps out from his mouth, resting on his teeth as Aaron bites down, a childlike giggle filling the air.  

All Robert can do is pull him closer once again.

But, Aaron takes a step backwards. 

His hand falls from Robert's neck, and Robert loses his grip of Aaron's waist, but both clamp their fists tightly shut by their sides, as though the absence of the other from their palm would leave them clutching the empty air. 

Aaron forces out a loud breath, a deep exhalation of air as he shuffles on his feet again. The smile has fallen across his face, instead he's returned to nibbling on his bottom lip as he finally glances back up to Robert's eyes. 

"Are you sure you're alright?" Robert asks, a cloud of worry suddenly washing over him, despite the bright colours surrounding them. 

"No, well yes. Well," Aaron stutters. 

"Aaron?"

" _Fuck_." He mumbles, loud enough for Robert to hear, but quiet enough it almost gets washed out by the sound of the stream just a few feet away from the edge of their garden. "I'm doing all of this wrong."

"Doing what wrong? Aaron, you're freaking me out." Robert rushes out, his words stumbling over each other as he hesitantly steps forward a fraction. 

"No." Aaron almost shouts. "You don't need to be worried." 

Robert only stares ahead at him, blinking slowly. 

"Alright," he sighs, "I'm just gonna do it, but you can't interrupt me, okay?" 

Robert nods his head, forehead still creased in confusion, but he nods all the same. 

"Right. Rob, I love you." 

He attempts to open his mouth to respond, but Aaron's stern eyes locked on his face makes his mouth snap back shut.

"I once told you, that I love you somuch that I don't know what to do with it." Robert's eyebrows fly up towards his hairline as the memory floods his body." I still don't. When you're not here, you're all I can think about. When you're here, I need you next to me at every moment. I can't live without you. I've tried, God knows we both have, but I can't do it." His voice grows in confidence, the stuttering words flow into a speech that seems almost rehearsed, but the crease between Aaron's eyebrows suggests otherwise. 

"You're the best part of me. You make me _so_ happy, you gave me a home." His hand flicks upwards towards the house, before he stuffs it back into his pocket. "You gave me a family. You  _are_ my family. You're a nightmare, and you're such a prick sometimes I just want to smack you, but I don't want to be without you. I don't want to be apart from you ever again." 

Robert's eyes have started to fill with tears, his eyelids twitching as he swallows around the newly formed lump in his throat, "You never have to be." He whispers.

Aaron nods shortly before he rams his shaking hands to the large front pocket of the hoodie, the purple fabric almost engulfing him, before lowering his body to the ground. He wobbles slightly before he stills, and there is Aaron Dingle: down on one knee. He straightens his back and stares up at Robert, he pulls out a small box from the hoodie, before snapping it open in front of him. A ring. 

He almost looks out of place; dark navy tracksuit bottoms on the damp grass, the lights to their left casting a dark shadow over the right side of his face, but a hue of greens dance over the left as the lights continue to flicker. The sleeves of his hoodie is pulled over his knuckles, the ring box nestled in the fabric as though it was made to be put in between Aaron's hands. He doesn't though, somehow, he looks so close to perfect that Robert's breath gets stuck in his throat.

A gasp finally erupts from Robert, his lip quivering as the tears filling his eyes spill over. Aaron looks one moment away from following in his lead. 

"I know we already have rings." Robert's fingers subconsciously find themselves hovering over the silver ring on his hand, twirling it around on his finger. "But I thought it might be nice if we had another pair too." 

Aaron takes a shaking breath, almost to stabilise him, before continuing. "You don't have to say yes. You already are my husband. But I thought it might be nice, you know, to make it official."

He stares up at Robert, who almost comedically towers over him, and waits a moment. 

Robert says nothing.

"You don't have to leave me hangin', you know." 

A grin spreads over Robert's face as he twists his mouth, as though in thought, "Well, you haven't actually  _asked_ me anything."

Aaron lets out a quiet chuckle and shakes his head, "You're such a dick."

"Ever the romantic you. Go on."

" _Fine._ " He sighs again before straightening back up and coughing as though attempting to get the empty garden's attention. "Robert Sugden, will you marry me? Again?" 

Robert mockingly taps at his chin with his index finger and tuts, before saying: "Of course I will." 

He lurches forward, falling to his knees, and takes Aaron's face in his hands, crushing his lips against his own. They breathe heavily as they kiss, neither able to take in enough air, but Robert's tongue swipes against Aaron's bottoms lip and he pushes even closer to him. Aaron's hands return to Robert's neck once again, the fabric still covering his fingers but his fingertips grip onto the bottom of Robert's hair, tufts of blonde hair sprouting from in between Aaron's clenched fist.

They pull apart; faces still flushed close enough that Robert's breath warms Aaron cheeks as he exhales deeply. Tears unapologetically from their eyes as their foreheads push together. 

"That's the best welcome home I've had in a while."

Aaron chuckles loudly, tears dripping off his chin as he pulls backwards again, seemingly only now remembering the box he's clutching limply in his hand. He pulls it out from where it's nestled in the black foam. A simple silver band, not dissimilar to the ones already adorning their ring fingers, but a thick band of gold runs through the middle, sparkling underneath the now orangey-red of the fairy lights. 

Aaron grasps at Robert's hand and pulls it in between them, Robert already stretching his fingers wide for Aaron to place it on him. His hands are shaking slightly, Robert's too, and he roughly places it on his hand, before softly pushing it up to meet their wedding rings. The two pieces of metal a stark contrast to each other, but seemingly fit perfectly settled next to each other on Robert's pale hand. 

Their eyes meet again, a matching broad smile on both of their faces.  

"I love you." Aaron whispers, intertwining Robert's fingers with his own tightly. Both of his rings on proud display. 

Robert leans forward again and presses a chaste kiss to the underneath of Aaron's jaw, trailing upwards until he meets his lips. He whispers softly against them:

"I love you so much more."

Aaron snorts quietly but presses a firm kiss on Robert's mouth, as though he doesn't believe it's possible.

Robert doesn't mind, he's got his whole life to prove it after all.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @frecklysugden for any feedback!


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